Book 4: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Poisons of the Past
by EthanRicksDunn
Summary: With the Hamato Family spread across the world, Ethan, Jess, and Kaela find themselves in central Japan seeking answers to where they came from. Although the journey is difficult, it will lead them to the darkest corners of their past and the secret history of the Shinotomo Clan will perhaps be more than they expected or ever wanted to know. *IN PROGRESS*
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

Thank you all for reading what you have so far! For those who have followed, you have read three whole books of content! That is crazy! Thank you for all your support. I may take a break before continuing this tale, but I thought I would say thanks and upload a bit of content so that way you guys can follow this story to get updates of future chapters.

Also, If you were watching, Book 3 ended on Episode 26. That is one whole season of episodes in television format! Therefore Book 4 Will begin with Episode 1 again as this is technically a second season! ?

Thanks again guys! Happy reading!

Ethan


	2. Sneak Peek

I have already had Book 4 planned out for a while which will have Episodes 1 - 8 of my versions Season 2! This one is going to be so much fun! Just to give you guys a sneak peek as I begin writing, here are the episode titles! Comment below which ones sound super interesting to you!

Episode 1: The Black Flower

Episode 2: Map of the Gods

Episode 3: The Night Named Death

Episode 4: The Line of Atonement

Episode 5: The Pieces Fall Into Play

Episode 6: The Crimson Kraang

Episode 7: The Anti-Mutant Order

Episode 8: The Poisons of the Past

Can't wait for you guys to see some of the cool things planned for Ethan, Jess, Kaela, and the turtles! The past is about to be revealed!


	3. The Black Flower - Part 1

Episode 1: The Black Flower – Part 1

Hot rain hit black pavement in the downtown Japan streets. Blooming green canopies sprung up randomly through the black office buildings and tile sloped homes. Despite having been here a year, Ethan was still not used to rain that felt more like sweat. Ethan crouched against the building, pulling a coat against his fur and the hood more tightly over his head to make sure if he should be seen, that he wouldn't shock anyone with his red panda complexion. He could feel the weight of his naginata against his back and he fingered the bottom of the wooden handle of the weapon.

Down below on the narrow streets of the tiny town of Seto in Aichi Ken he could see people pulling up their coat collars and pulling out see-through umbrellas. One of the trains had just deposited a troop of Japanese students dressed in their school navy blue school uniforms with golden crests stamped on their chest. The girls skirts swished around their thighs. One giggled at something a boy with particularly spiky hair had said. Another looked down at the glowing screen of their phone decorated with anime charms, her black hair done up in pigtails and her umbrella balancing on her shoulder.

Ethan felt a shadow move next to him from his perch on one of the nearby wooden homes. The tiles below his feet were slippery with the rain. "Have you seen her yet?" Jess whispered, her own coat pulled tight around her white fur. Her green bandanna was tied around her eyes and tucked into the sides of her belts were her typical kama blades.

Making sure to keep himself hidden on the roof by tucking his belly closer to the tiles he shook his head. "Not yet." He said quietly back. "Kaela is ready though in the alleyway to stop her."

"This is crazy." Jessica said over the pounding sound of the rain, the dark clouds above them boiling and darkening most individuals vision – but their mutated animal eyes made life easier for them. Ethan smiled against the warm wind as it blew water into his whiskers. After a year, he finally felt closer to figuring out their past once and for all. Ethan glanced down from the roof into the dark alleyway. He could see Kaela waiting, alone, near wooden crates filled with old dusty bottles that were finally getting washed by nature. Her tail whipped behind her, hardly able to see from the black blending into the dark. "There she is." Jess said.

Ethan quickly looked up from the alleyway, brushing the dripping water from the red fur above his eyes. Jess was right. A girl had appeared – a teenager like the rest that were exiting the train. But she was distinct – she was American for one. She had short brown hair that hung around her ears and down to the nape of her neck. Although her hair and brighter brown eyes made her stand out among the Japanese, her short height fit them incredibly well. She had a Pokémon backpack slung on her back, kuma charms falling from the zippers, brown with cute black eyes. Her umbrella was decorated with Pikachu and slung from her arm were a pair of ice skates.

Ethan already knew a lot about this girl.

Kaitlin was her name. When she wasn't at the ice skating rink practicing, she was at school studying ancient Japanese lore, ancient myth, and cultural history. She was even more brilliant at studying than she was at ice skating and that was saying something. "Get ready, Kaela." Jess hissed down the alleyway.

Kaitlin brushed the brown hair past her ear and made her way down the long alleyway. For a few moments she skipped about the puddles, the blades on her skates clanking together, but then she stopped when she saw Kaela emerge from the dark of the alley in her coat and stand across from her.

"Now." Ethan said.

Without a moment of hesitation, Jess and Ethan jumped down into the narrow pass made by the two wooden houses. "Don't worry, we won't hurt you." Kaela said softly in the darkness.

Kaitlin brought one of her ice skates up like a weapon, the blade out. "Touch me and I'll beat the heck out of you with these!"

Kaela's softness didn't have the effect that Ethan had hoped.

Bringing her hands up, Kaela tried to recover, "No! Really! We don't want to hurt you! We just want your help!"

Kaitlin turned to see Ethan and Jessica blocking the other exit to the alleyway, their hoods up to cover their faces, their hands behind their back to avoid her seeing claws or fur. Ethan figured that would be incredibly difficult to explain in an alleyway. Kaitlin watched them, looking them from the top of their hoods to the bottom of their shoes. "Forget it." She said. "I'm not interested in helping random strangers in an alleyway." She walked towards Kaela, lifting her ice skate above her head, ready to strike as she slowly stepped up to her. Kaela bowed her head to cover her black panther face.

They didn't meet eyes and Kaitlin sidled past Kaela's figure down the alleyway, her umbrella still slung over her shoulder. "Just…leave me alone! I have enough school to deal with without dealing with creepers." She then turned and walked out of the alleyway, disappearing behind the corner.

Ethan could hear the sound of her rain boots slamming against the pavement as she sprinted away from the alley. For a moment he thought he heard other, softer feet up above on the roof and he quickly looked up. Ethan could have sworn he saw a dark shadow slink back down from the peek of the roof and into the rain.

Shaking his head, Ethan glanced at Jess. "That didn't work out the way I thought it would." He said.

"This is stupid." Jess said, "What would this Kaitlin girl know that we couldn't find on a Google search?"

Kaela chuckled, "A lot. Despite what the world may think, not everything can be found on the internet. And if the answers we were looking for were just on Google, we would have found in the last year of searches."

"Feel's like we haven't really gotten anywhere." Jess said.

"Well, we have gotten somewhere." Ethan replied, folding his arms across his chest. "When we visited Nanao a few months ago, I'm positive the cape was the same spot that I keep seeing in my dreams. The cliff sides and the trees looked similar."

Kaela pulled her hood down over her head further to keep the dripping water out of her eyes. "So . . . you think that Kitsune really is our Mom?"

"Yes." Ethan said slowly. "I have seen her in my dreams – I would say they are memories, but honestly it doesn't make a lot of sense. The dreams make it seem like I am living in Feudal Japan. And that doesn't make a whole lot of sense since we woke up in downtown New York City in modern America." The thinking was making his brain hurt and he rubbed his temples from under his hood.

"You're right," Jess said, "That doesn't make any sense at all. You must be crazy or something." She grinned at Ethan from under her hood and Ethan shoved her shoulder with a chuckle.

"Hey guys, look at this." Kaela pointed over to the side of the building. Ethan stepped next to Kaela to glance closer at the old wooden walls. A symbol of a sakura flower had been painted in black on the wall, surrounded by a large black circle. "Kinda cool right? It remind sme of the Hamato Clan symbol." Kaela said.

"Or the Foot Clan symbol." Jess added.

"C'mon, let's go home."

Off one of the side streets of Shinseto Ethan, Jess, and Kaela had found an old abandoned apartment. (The locals called them Danchi's.) The whole apartment from top to bottom was deserted and old. It was hedged in by a bamboo forest and they had managed to grab materials from some of the apartments, nearby dollar stores, and other locations to make a suitable living space near the top of the apartments near an old shrine made of wood with a dusty, empty coin box. The tatami mats had been mostly without disrepair and the space heater still worked. They had found several dusty futons that they had beaten out and Kaela had managed to set up a computer up against the side of the wall.

A few still dirty dishes from the morning were stacked near the stove. They each took off their coats and hung them up just outside the genkan where they put their shoes and Jessica ran over to the space heater and turned it on to help dry them out more.

Kaela immediately turned on the computer and began typing away. Ethan plopped onto his futon and watched Kaela work, knowing that she was checking her email to get an update from the turtles back in New York. He waited for her excitement and it came.

"Donatello sent an email!" She said.

"Read it aloud." Jess requested from the corner with the space heater, the rain speckling the glass of the sliding glass door behind her.

Kaela leaned in, adjusted her seat and began to read:

 _Dear Kaela, Jessica, and Ethan,_

 _I hope everything is going well for you out there in Japan! Things are going great here! At least, I think they are. Raphael still spends all of his time sleeping and Mikey is gone most of the day doing his Cowabunga Carl Party Service job. He loves it maybe a little too much. If he isn't there, he is sleeping on the couch with the TV on._

 _I've been enjoying the IT Tech support job as much as anyone could. You get weird callers sometimes. The other day I got one where I called them Sir instead of Ma'am and they blew up on me. So that is always great. April and Casey come over on occasion but April has still been doing some final jobs for Winter's Corp._

 _Leo hasn't come back yet._

 _His training ended a year ago and still he hasn't shown up. Splinter seems to be okay with it and keeps telling us to be patient, but honestly I'm worried. April said she is going on a final exhibition in South American near where Leonardo is and she said she would look around for him. Here's hoping she finds him._

 _Hope you guys are finding what you are looking for too and that we see you guys again soon. We miss you._

 _Donnie_

Ethan listened as Kaela finished the email and then she began busily typing away again, not asking Jess or Ethan if they had anything they wanted to say.

And Ethan didn't.

A year – and still he had gotten no where. He sighed and turned on his side on his futon, his tail waving wearily behind him from being crushed lying on his back. As he turned he suddenly noticed something.

Outside in the wet and the rain was a black ribbon and something that looked like white, damp paper tied to one of the clothing lines that was moving in the wet wind. Ethan stood up and glanced at his sisters. Kaela was still typing, her face inches from the screen. Jessica had her eyes closed and was crouched on the floor, her body tight against the corner of the walls and her chest moving slowly. Ethan slowly opened the glass door to make sure he didn't cause too much noise and then he pulled the piece of white paper from the clothing line along with the black ribbon and slowly opened the damp paper.

A few word were written in drippy, smudged black ink:

Meet me in the abandoned subway by your apartment.

Ethan looked up from the note at Kaela who was still typing away and Jess that was now snoring quietly. He snatched up his naginata and buckled it onto his back. "I'll be right back. I'm just going to go for a walk." He said.

"Be careful." Kaela called after him.

"I will."

He shut the door behind him quietly. The rain was still pattering down from long bamboo green leaves. The warmth hit him like he had walked into a hot shower. The little broken down shrine was damp and gave off a papery smell. Ethan pulled his coat over his red, black, and white fur and he tucked his tail behind him. He put on the black gloves to make sure his claws were hiding as well and tightened the white bandanna behind his head.

He stepped down the multiple flights of stairs of empty apartments and out into the water. The gutters bubbled next to him as he made his way down a deserted street that was small enough to be a walking path in America. Water dripped into old rusted buckets among the streets and grass grew in unkempt patches around old wooden houses. This neighborhood was older than Master Hamato Ethan guessed.

Just around the corner was a pair of old, broken cement steps that led down into the dark underbelly of a subway that had once functioned, leading people back into Seto proper, but it had been shut down for a while now which meant that Ethan, Jessica, and Kaela had a longer commute back home each day.

Ethan made his way down the stairs as quietly his possible, his hand gripping his naginata behind him. He tried to think of who could have possibly sent the note. Shredder? The Turtles? Maybe Kaitlin had followed us home and she is waiting with a brigade of police officers to take me out. Ethan tried not to let his imagination run to wild as he imagined armored SWAT teams with AK-47's pointed at him.

A naginata wouldn't do much against that.

He slowly turned the corner, giving one last long exhale before he did and he whipped out his naginata from behind him into battle ready position, keeping the hood lowered over his face to ensure that his mutant form wouldn't be noticed.

A figure was standing on the other end of the tunnel. They too were wearing a long black coat with a hood up, their hands behind their back. The tunnel was dark but Ethan could make out a slim build from the flickering yellow lights on either side of the tunnel.

"Who are you?" Ethan asked slowly inching forward. "Why did you want to meet me here?"

The figure laughed and the voice sounded familiar. "You didn't guess it was me, huh?"

Ethan couldn't believe it. He pulled off the hood from his face.

"Ashina?"

The wolf pulled her own hood off to reveal black fur and beautiful glimmering eyes, a pleasant smile on her face. "Haven't seen that cute red panda face in a while." She said.


	4. The Black Flower - Part 2

Episode 1: The Black Flower – Part 2

"Ashina!" Ethan's voice echoed down the hallway to the wolf who smiled at him, very human eyes looking into his own. For a moment he wasn't sure if he should embrace her or if he should prepare to attack with his naginata in his hand. But something in her smile told him that she wasn't here to fight him. Memories from a year ago flashed through his head. They had gone through the Dimension of Fear, Planet Sectoid One, and even the Void itself that threaded the dimensions together. He remembered her words in that dark place. She had told him she didn't want to be a servant anymore to Lord Nightshade or the Shinotomo Clan. And that was the last time he had seen her.

He lowered his naginata. She didn't even haver her katar bound on her leather coat covered arms. She bridged the space between them and smirked. "It's been way too long. You never called."

"You never gave me your number."

"I don't have a phone."

The two chuckled together and she shoved at his chest with her hand, half to stop him from continuing to laugh and the other seemed affectionate. Ethan looked around them. "Cute place. Did you pick this out yourself?"

Ashina turned her collar up closer to the side of her face, her eyes shifting around her. "Hey, it was safe. Here we won't be seen by anyone."

"So, why are you here?" Ethan asked, "You didn't come all the way for me did you?"

Ashina's smile vanished and seriousness flashed across her bright eyes. "For a while I kept looking for you during nightly patrols, but I never could find you. Then Nightshade heard that you had made your way to Japan from Kurohana."

"Kurohana?" Ethan asked.

Ashina frowned even more, "It isn't good, Ethan," she said, "A couple years ago Nightshade asked us to go New York in America to implement his plan. Ever since then he has been collecting mutagen and now he has been getting nightshade leaves used in poisons that he concocts. I think he is getting close to do something horrible in New York. That isn't all either. He brought all of his 'elect soldiers' with him to New York, but he left one of his servants and her soldiers here. That's Kurohana."

Ethan suddenly remembered the black sakura flower painted in drippy, inky black paint on the wooden wall of one of the houses in the alleyway when they had confronted Kaitlin earlier. He had been in Japan long enough to know that Kurohana meant, "Black Flower…" he muttered to himself.

Ashina nodded. "She saw you a few weeks ago and informed Nightshade. I volunteered to come help her and receive additional training."

"Why did you do that?" Ethan asked feeling something warm inside him.

"Why do you think?" Ashina asked coyly, folding her arms across her chest and grinning, showing her teeth. "But listen, Ethan. The second she spied you out a giant target appeared on you and your sister's backs. And today she saw you trying to talk to that short American girl. That makes her a target as well and I bet she is much easier to capture than you three."

Ethan put his face in his hand and groaned.

That's all I needed was another person getting involved.

"Guess no place is safe then." He muttered.

Ashina nodded in agreement and they were quiet together – the sound of pattering rain the only thing that filled it up with echoing noise that traveled through the cement tunnel. "I don't know what I can do," Ashina said, "But I will see if there is a way that I can help you."

Slowly, Ethan put his naginata behind his back, securing it with a click and he smiled at Ashina. "I don't really know why you feel you need to do that." He said. "Just over a year ago you were trying to kill me."

Ashina slugged at his arm. "Don't think that I'm suddenly team Hamato." She said. When Ethan was quiet, waiting for her answer, Ashina sighed and continued, "I'm feeling pretty done with Nightshade."

"You said that a year ago and you are still working for him."

Ashina glared and Ethan felt a sting inside him like she had lashed out. "It isn't as easy as cancelling a school class or walking away from someone." Her voice echoed past Ethan's ears and then she sighed again. "Sorry." She muttered. "I have things to figure out. Just…promise me you will try and stay out of Kurohana and Nightshade's way."

"I'll try."

"That's all I ask."

Ethan felt an awkward tug and looked away, avoiding her eyes glancing at anything else – an odd stain on the wall. She wasn't turning away her own eyes and finally he met them again, a painful pressure appearing between them like a wall. "Well, I'll talk to you later then." Ethan managed to say, unsure if that was the words he actually felt inside.

"Yeah. Maybe." She said and with a quick nod she tugged the black hood back over her head and Ethan watched as she walked down the long cement tunnel, water plopping around her and then up into the hazy gray of the rain and out of sight.

Ethan put up his own hood and quickly sprinted back to the apartment, nearly slipping on his way there.

When he got in he pulled off his wet coat.

Jess was awake now, boiling water on a portable stove and turned to looked as the door opened. Kaela was turning off the computer. "How'd your walk go?" Kaela asked. She turned to look at Ethan and then paused. "Why are you all smiley?" She asked, smirking herself.

"I met someone." Ethan said sitting down next to the stove. Jessica looking up from the water to try and read his expression. Ethan quickly explained to them about the note he had found on the balcony and then described his experience with Ashina and the bad news that Kurohana and her gang of Shinotomo lackeys had seen them and were no likely targeting Kaitlin.

"Well, that isn't good." Jess said. "Although I gotta say with a year of hardly any real fighting, I am not feeling too opposed to the idea of beating up some Shinotomo ninjas."

Kaela hummed under her breath and fidgeted on the floor next to the heater. Her long black tail coiled and furled out in concentration. "I dunno." Kaela said quietly. "I don't get why Ashina would want to help us. If she knows where the apartment is that we are in, then we might have those Shinotmo soldiers knocking on our door any second."

As if the word had summoned the enemies out of the ground, Jess gripped her two kamas tighter, the white fur bristling on her knuckles.

"I don't think so." Ethan quickly said, "Ashina told me a long time ago when we were trapped in the Void together that she was done with the whole Nightshade thing."

"Obviously not." Jess muttered under her breath, but it was loud enough that Ethan could hear and he scowled back at her. She shrugged her shoulders defensively.

"Look," Ethan said, glancing at his sister's eyes, one to the other, "We need to talk to Kaitlin again. She is in danger now because of us talking to her."

"Great." Jess said. "Like I said, if we get to finally see some action, I'm all down for it."

Ethan turned to look at Kaela, his ears perking up.

Kaela looked back at him, her eyes swimming with concern and then she sighed and looked down at her feet. "Well, I guess if Kaitlin is in danger because of us, then we have to fix it."

Ethan smiled.

It was decided.

For the first time in a week the rain let up, although the sky was still gray. Ethan balanced as if on a top, perched atop one of the sloping ceilings of the Shinseto train station. Kaitlin would be coming home any time now.

It was hidden to anyone from the train, but Ethan could see the white tuft of the top of Jess' head hiding behind some of the boxes in the same alleyway they had tried to confront Kaitlin before. The whip of Kaela's tail could be seen on the opposite side near a second alley that led off into the streets. Ethan was getting board of waiting – his naginata stuck to his back. He rubbed at his nose as he waited, his eyes starting to slide shut. He wobbled on the peek of the house and he nearly toppled but he caught himself.

He heard a hiss from down below in the alley. Kaela was staring up at him with her usual concern. He grinned back and rubbed the back of his head nervously in reply – he would stay awake.

The familiar jingle sounded from the train that announced its approach.

"Ready?" Jess hissed up at Ethan.

He nodded his reply, ignoring the annoying fact that if anyone had been passing through the isle they would have heard Jess' indiscreet voice.

Ethan watched the white metal that blocked his view of the train. Then with another jingle, he heard the sound of the train, his ears perking up at the noise and then the train slid into view through glass panels further down the rails. He quickly glanced over at the doors which a few minutes later slid open and a group of four or five students came out, dressed in navy blue school uniforms.

They all dispersed after saying quick: "Ja Ne!"

Only one walked towards the abandoned alleyway.

Kaitlin had her ice skates slung over her shoulder, more obvious from the other students by her brown hair.

With a fluid movement of his arm he threw his hood over his face to hide his mutant form and then he hopped down smoothly form his perch, slid down the still damp panels of the house and fell in front of Kaitlin in the abandoned alleyway.

Kaitlin started and then whirled her skates around, prepared this time.

"For real, you want to do this again?" she asked fiercely. Although she was shorter than even some Japanese people, she had a deadly glare and a feisty disposition. She had lowered her stance and held the ice skate expertly – perhaps she had some kind of martial arts training herself.

Ethan quickly let his gloved his hands come up in front of him defensively. "I'm not here to hurt you!" He said.

"That's what you said last time."

"Yeah, and look – you aren't hurt, are you?" Jess had come out form behind her, the impatience in her voice obvious, her hood over her now, but her kamas were in her hand and she spun them absentmindedly.

Kaitlin eyed them but didn't seem to look threatened, "Yeah – I'm not worried about getting hurt at all when your carrying crazy garden tool weapons."

"Garden tools?" Jess didn't sound amused.

Kaela quickly spun from her own hiding place behind a box.

Kaitlin immediately dropped the ice skate, her eyes going wide, her mouth falling open with a squeak.

Ethan spun to see what she was looking at.

It was just Kaela…Kaela without a hood.

"Kaela!" Ethan hissed.

"Whoops!" She grabbed the edge of her hood clumsily and threw it over her face, but it was too late.

"You're a – a –."

"It's just a mask, I promise!" Kaela exclaimed.

"You're a cat!" Kaitlin's face transformed into a surprising one of elation.

Ethan raised an eyebrow at her.

"That is so cool! How the heck did you turn into a cat person? Can I do that?"

She looked at Ethan's silhouette. "Are you a cat person too?"

With a sigh and a shrug of Kaela's shoulders, Ethan pulled the hood from his own head, his fire engine red and black ears flopping out, his whiskers twitching. Kaitlin just stared at him and then glanced back at Jess. She had already removed her hood showing her white fur and fierce eyes. "So crazy…" Kaitlin muttered under her breath, and the more loudly she exclaimed, "So cute!"

"Yeah, we are cute and stuff, but look we didn't come here to just ask you for help. You need to come with us. You're in danger—." The second it came form his lips the sound of a blade flipping through the air could be heard as sharply to his ears as a gunshot and he leaped, grabbing Kaitlin as he went, taking them both down.

Kaitlin sputtered out her surprise, a shuriken stuck in the ground where he had been standing. Ethan barely had time to get up, pulling up Kaitlin with him as Kaela quickly unfurled her ribbon dart.

Down the gray and dark brown alleyway was standing four figures, entirely garbed in white, their faces covered in shrouds. A black, inky imprint of a flower was displayed on their chest like the one in the alleyway.

"You were saying?" Kaitlin gulped.

"Yeah, danger." Ethan replied.


	5. The Black Flower - Part 3

Episode 1: The Black Flower – Part 3

The group of white clad ninjas stepped into the alleyway, closing it off. Ethan tried to shove Kaitlin back behind him, but she pushed back. "What is going on?" she demanded.

"I said danger – get back."

"No freaking way."

Jess stepped forward, spinning her kama into a battle stance. "Are you crazy?" She asked Kaitlin accusingly, "These guys are ninjas – you don't stand a change against them."

Kaitlin swung her ice skate up by the laces, "You haven't seen me skate."

A figure near the front stepped ahead of the others and stared the four down. The ninjas eyes were dark black, their skin ivory, a scar running across the bridge of their nose. They spoke, voice muffled, "We heard you would come, Hamato mutts." The voice was tinged with a Japanese accent.

"Why do I have a feeling that you already saw us." Ethan snarled, pulling his naginata from its holster and giving it a quick, deadly spin to show how serious he felt. The anxiety he usually felt from battles he calmed quickly, letting the cool of the air brush through his fur, chilling him inside and outside.

The figure spoke again, "Because we already did. And we know why you've come for the girl," they stepped even closer down the alleyway, "And that is why we've come." With a flash a blade whirled from the sash on their side.

"Just stay out of the way then," Jess snapped and with a flash of lightening, the white Shinotomo ninjas rocketed forward, leaning down, weapons bared. Before Ethan's naginata met the enemy, an ice skate flew past his head, throwing water droplets across his face. He skidded to a halt as the skate made contact with the face of one of the ninjas and they slammed into the ground with a grunt and went still, the skate skitting across the muddy ground.

But Ethan had made a mistake.

The one with the scar who led the others flipped into the air, throwing her weight over him and suddenly he was seeing stars, the ninjas foot connecting with his nose and he fell to his knee.

She was quick – accurate – deadly.

But Ethan was used to dealing with that.

With a whirl of his naginata he jumped back to his feet.

The scarred figure was already occupied, dancing around Jess' kama strikes. She was petit, smaller than Jess, and moved past blades like water past rock.

The other two figures were almost on them, ignoring their fallen comrade.

"Stay close," Ethan snapped to Kaitlin, holding his weapon out, ready to receive the enemy. One of them didn't make it. Kaela threw herself in front of the two, her ribbon dart slamming into the skull of one of the ninjas as they crumpled. The final one moved unflinchingly forward, ducking past Kaela, nearly getting whipped by her long black, snake-like tail. A blade cut across the top of the naginata's metal tip, making it a ringing sound that echoed in the alleyway. Before the blade of the ninja could trail up the wood to Ethan's face he flung his naginata with as much power as his hip could deliver, knocking the white clad figure out of its momentum and throwing them to the side.

They recovered, but by the time they had planted their feet solidly again, Ethan had pounced, his shoulder hitting them and throwing them backward onto their back with a slam. Before they could right themselves again, Ethan slammed the butt of his weapon into their shoulder trigger point and they froze up, eyes bulging from pain and then closing.

"Dang, you guys are cute and good fighters?"

Ethan ignored Kaitlin's comment and turned.

Jess was flung like a doll across the alleyway length and her back connected with the damp, moldy wood of the building. She rolled to the ground groaning.

The figure with the scar raised their blade above their head, ready to bring it down.

"KAELA!"

She was already on it.

With a quick lash of her wrist, the blue ribbon soared through the air and wrapped around the leaders hand and with a tug she was thrown out of the way. But unlike her cronies, she did not fall to the ground. Instead, she flipped, following Kaela's momentum to keep her footing and then with a quick, precise slice of her glittering blade, the ribbon dart snapped.

Kaela stumbled backward with a gasp.

Ethan tucked his hand into his pocket and chucked a handful of black steel shurikans.

The leader darted out of the way, the shurikans pinging off of the concrete uselessly.

"It would seem I underestimated you," The ninja said, crouching low, voice still muffled by the cloth over their face, disguising their features. "Bloodmaw made it sound like you whelps were weaklings."

"That's weird, considering we've beaten him more times than I can count on my fingers," Ethan snarled back, his hands gripping his weapon tightly, his breath coming out evenly. He couldn't help but smile; they had improved.

The ninja's eyes narrowed, her blade had a thin stain of red across its side.

From the corner of Ethan's eye, he could see Jess straightening, grabbing her kama and gritting her pointed teeth, clutching her side with her hand, red staining her fingers. He could feel Kaela close behind him, holding what was left of her dart in her hand.

"You may have taken these fools down," the leader hissed under their breath, their words as sharp as their dagger, "But I won't be stopped so easily."

"Then it's three against one!" Kaela said confidently from behind Ethan, her dart gripped in her hand, the blue trailing down her black, furry arm like a trail of water.

Then ninja glanced behind her. Jess was ready again, both of her kamas in attack position, crouching low, glaring. They then looked back at Ethan and Kaela. She crouched lower.

"And if they don't take you out, then I'm gonna bash your head in with my other ice skate and then call the police to pick up your unconscious butt and bring you to jail!" Kaitlin emerged from behind a stack of old wooden crates.

The ninja stared down Kaitlin. "Another time then." They said it quietly, calmly, but their eyes were burning embers.

With a leap, a blast of gray smoke billowed through the alleyway.

With a chorus of coughing, Ethan lunged, striking where the ninja had been, but they were already gone.

"Ninja's actually throw smoke pellets?" Kaitlin coughed, "You guys are like, straight out of an anime."

Ethan couldn't agree more, but he didn't say so.

"So, are you going to trust us now?" Jess snapped, holding her side again.

Kaitlin leaned down and picked up the one ice skate that she had chucked next to the crumpled figure of one of the white ninjas. "Yeah," she said, "I definitely believe you. And this was way cooler than what I'm learning at school." She brushed the edge of the blade off with her fingers gently and then grinned back at Jess. "You guys said you needed my help," she said, "I'm in."

Ethan smiled. "Good."

Kaitlin had boiled mugicha for all of them on the stove and even served it into small cups that she had in her backpack along with a pile of textbooks, some entirely in Japanese. She sat cross-legged on the tatami mat while rain pattered the window outside and slurped her warm, barley drink quietly.

Kaela sat behind Jess on a chair and slung white bandages around her middle where the leader had managed to cut her and bit the edge of the bandage with her sharp, feline teeth to cut it and tie it off. Next to her sat her sad ribbon dart that had taken the most damage during the fight.

Sitting across from Kaitlin, Ethan grabbed a steaming cup from where she had left them and took a long swig. He nearly spit it back up. "Blegh," He said, "This tastes like someone crushed up cigarette butts into water."

"But its so authentic!" Kaitlin said it like a fangirl geeking out over merchandise.

Ethan raised an eyebrow and then ventured another drink. Shuddering he set his cup back down. "So, the help we were talking about before," he began and Kaitlin glanced up from her cup like an excited puppy. "This is gonna sound crazy—"

"Crazy is watching a humanoid Red Panda, Black Cat, and White Wolf fighting a bunch of ninjas in a back alley of Japan," Kaitlin interjected.

"Right – well, we all woke up in a New York backstreet a couple of years ago and have no idea where we came from or how we got there."

Kaitlin nodded over her cup, pursing her lips. "Yeah, that also is crazy."

Jess grunted and stood up, patting Kaela on the shoulder gently and sat next to Ethan, grabbing Ethan's half full cup of mugicha.

Kaela picked up her ribbon dart with a frown and began working to untie the rest of the limp, short blue silk from the dart.

Ethan continued, "We've been told by a crazy Japanese witch lady that we are actually her children and that we lived in Japan a long, long time ago. Like thousands of years or something and that somehow we were brought to modern New York. We wanna know if that is – y'know – true."

Kaitlin placed her empty cup on the tatami floor, "So, where do we start?"

Jess put the cup back down after it touched her lips and clapped her lips together, grimacing.

"A few places. The name of this witch is Kitsune. Finding something about her would be useful. That, and the Foot Clan, Hamato Clan, and Shinotomo Clan."

"Ooo, I got lots of stuff on them," Kaitlin said, ruffling through her bookbag. "After school tomorrow I can show you guys some stuff."

Kaela, Jess, and Ethan exchanged glances. "I dunno if you can go back to school." Kaela said gently, her dart now free from the blue ribbon which sat on the floor.

"Um, that isn't an option. I have to go to school."

"Look, the Shinotomo clan was who attacked us in the alleyway. The leader of the Japanese group is named Kurohana. She knows we are around now with that last person going to report to her. She'll be out to get you," Ethan said.

"What if you guys just come live at my place then? This place is kind of a dump anyway. Then I'll have more protection!"

"We could escort her back and forth from school," Kaela offered.

Ethan liked the idea of a heated, dry, decorated apartment.

Kaitlin watched them eagerly and Jess shrugged, "I'm cool with whatever you choose, Ethan."

"Alright, deal."

"Awesome," Kaitlin grinned, "Let's head over now! This place is creepy."

It didn't take long for Ethan, Jess, and Kaela to gather what they had brought with them. Kaitlin glanced at the blue ribbon on the floor. "What did you do that for?" She asked. "Can't you just retie it?"

"Retying it weakens the silk and makes it really easy to cut," Kaela explained picking up the blue trail sadly, "I brought extra so I'll just have to retie it."

As they packed up Ethan couldn't help but think about the ribbon dart. He had seen Kaela retie it several times before when an opponent had managed the expert cut that went through silk. For some reason, this retie felt different to Ethan. He couldn't help but feel like other threads in his life were about to be retied – and wondered if that was what he wanted after all.


	6. Map of the Gods - Part 1

Episode 2: Map of the Gods – Part 1

"Home sweet home!" Kaitlin said, hoping the door to apartment 511. Ethan, Jess, and Kaela stood behind her, bound up in thick black coats with hoods over their heads to disguise themselves from the people on the street. The apartment had a genkan for shoes and then a long narrow hallway. An open door on the left showed a yellow lit Japanese bathroom with shower heads to short for Ethan to fit under without crouching. On the right was a closed door. At the end of the hallway was an open awning to a small kitchen and a tiny study. A pair of sliding glass doors led to the balcony five flights up that looked out over the city. In the corner was a heater humming lowly.

The walls were covered with anime posters. Ethan immediately recognized a huge poster of Narcissist King on the door to the right. "Nice," Kaela said, stepping in and pulling her shoes off and setting them neatly into the genkan before stepping in after Kaitlin. "I love these posters!"

Jess and Ethan exchanged looks before following suit, closing the front door behind them, a metal mailbox slot shaking as it shut. As Ethan walked down the dark hallway he could hear Kaitlin talking about her favorite episode of Narcissist King and Kaela gushing back. As they walked into the kitchen, the smell of potstickers and rice became prevalent.

"I think I can get you guys some futons and you can all sleep out in here!" She motioned to the study with a desk and a roller chair in the corner.

Already it was beginning to become dark and so Kaitlin quickly grabbed futons from a closet and she placed them on the floor, rolling out all three and beating them a few times with a long plastic blue stick. Ethan felt exhausted and so while the others spoke together about anime, he lay his head on the pillow she provided, staring at multicolored posters and for some reason, the only thing on his mind wasn't the past, or the information they sought; instead, his thoughts were focused on Ashina.

He remembered the drippy, cold tunnel that for some reason seamed warm when Ashina walked in it. He remembered the smile on her face when she saw him and the sound of her voice that seemed like a familiar friend's. He closed his eyes and rather than feeling resistance to the thoughts like he normally did, he felt free thinking about her and fell asleep to the sound of the voice of his siblings.

Ethan woke up early to laughter. It was a refreshing change. He sat up in the futon, sheets tumbling over him, his white bandana askew and his red fur around his cheeks perking up in weird spots from lying on it funny. He rubbed at his face.

"I love that picture!" Kaela's exasperated voice sounded, high on mirth. Kaitlin and Kaela were sitting at the table, Kaela with a bowl of cereal and Kaitlin with a bowl of steaming white rice, her backpack slung on her shoulders and her blue ice skates strapped to the bottom of it. In front of Kaela was a colorful poster of an anime character Ethan had never seen before. She looked up from it when she noticed Ethan. "Oh hey! Morning, Ethan! I'm gonna go with Kaitlin to school today."

Ethan nodded and yawned, stretching his arms up to the ceiling, "Yeah, as long as you're not seen."

Kaela nodded, "I promise!"

The shower water could be heard on the other side of the wall and Ethan assumed by Jess' empty futon that she was getting ready for the day.

Kaitlin scooped up the last of the rice from her bowl and looked up at Ethan with a mischievous grin. "You having nightmares about someone named Ashina?"

Ethan froze.

Kaela's eyes widened and she turned to look back at Kaitlin slowly.

"You were talking in your sleep last night."

If Ethan's fur could turn anymore red it would have been the shade of a nasty sunburn after hours working outside in July.

"Well, then!" Kaela stuttered out, "How about we head to school! Don't want to be late!" She stood and practically pushed Kaitlin out the door, both of them waving goodbye before they left. Ethan sat on the futon for a while longer, bunching up the sheets in his fists nervously. I talk in my sleep? What did I say? He tried not to think to hard about it, no dreams coming to his memory about Ashina. Jess stepped in, still rubbing her white ears with a towel. "I have had to use three towels since becoming a mutant every time I shower. Three." She paused when she saw Ethan. "Are you ripping up her sheets on purpose?"

Ethan glanced down at his lap and noticed one of his black claws snagging through the sheet. "Whoops."

Jess rubbed at her ears, wincing, "You like Ashina?"

Ethan threw off his sheet, rubbing at his face, feigning that he was fixing his fur, but in reality he just wanted her to not be able to see how embarrassed he was. "What, why would you say that?"

"The walls here are thin," Jess smiled and knocked her knuckles against he wall.

"I dunno," Ethan said, "That would be weird, right?"

"I mean, you liked Karai, yeah?"

Ethan grumbled a reply.

"Ethan," Jess said leaning down to roll up her futon, "It's okay if you don't know how you're feeling. And it's okay if you do know what you're feeling but just don't want to deal with that yet. I get that."

He watched as she rolled up the futon and threw it into the closet for safe keeping.

"Thanks, Jess," Ethan muttered. He could hardly imagine what she must have felt when Mako had been mutated and controlled by Kitsune. Or how it felt for her to be wondering what he was doing now. He got up and rolled up his own things and took a quick shower. (He took three towels as well, emptying Kaitlin of her supply) and then he ate a quick breakfast. The rest of the day was spent with Jess, talking about how gross mugicha was and how she felt about Raphael. ("I'm over him.")

As soon as it started to get dark outside, and after fifteen rounds of playing cards, the front door opened and Kaitlin and Kaela emerged, still in mid laughter as if that was all they had been doing for the last eight hours. "Hey, guys!" Kaela said.

"What took you so long?" Jess asked, her elbow propped on the desk, her head resting in her palm.

"Kaitlin took me to the Ice Skating rink after! She knows so many cool tricks! She's awesome."

"Aw, you're nice, Kaela! But it's true, I am awesome." Kaitlin smiled and then slammed her heavy backpack on the table. "And not just at Ice Skating. Boy do I have some stuff to share with you guys about the stuff you asked about yesterday."

Ethan perked up from the dining table by the sliding glass door.

Kaitlin pulled out several large leather books from her bag and flipped open the yellowed pages. "I need an audience," She said to Kaela, "Take a seat."

Kaela tucked herself in between Jess and Ethan and Kaitlin began.

"So, back in feudal Japan, as you guys probably know, the whole country was in civil war. Monarchs all wanted to own everything and owned small bits of land and this resulted in constant wars between different families. At the same time, a bunch of crazy ninja clans exited. Some of them worked for specific monarchs, some of them had their own agenda. The Hamato Clan and the Foot Clan are two really well known ones!" She flipped to a picture and showed it like a teacher showing a picture book. It was a symbol of the Foot Clan. "The Foot Clan was one of those that had its own agenda. Killing monarchs was like a sport for them. The Hamato Clan mainly was just trying to stop the Foot Clan wherever they went."

"What about the Shinotomo Clan?" Ethan asked.

Kaitlin wagged a finger at him, "All in good time!" She said it like a wizened mentor. "The Shinotomo Clan didn't exist for most of the Civil War. But then, a prince of one of the largest provinces named Ryuga Taeshinobu created the Shinotomo Clan after a skirmish between the Foot Clan and the Hamato Clan resulted in the destruction of his home and the death of both of his parents. Ever since then, the Shinotomo Clan's purpose has been to destroy both the Foot and the Hamato Clans."

Ethan remembered the odd dark world with the burning eclipse in the distance – the Void of the Ten Dimensions. Ashina had told him there that Lord Nightshade wanted nothing more than the destroy both clans. "Apparently Ryuga Taeshinobu was trying to find some way to make himself immortal, and that is where Kitsune comes in." Kaitlin's voice grew more excited as she put down the book and picked up another, pausing to flip through a few pages. "Kitsune was a single mother with three children. Some people say she had magic of some kind that was granted her from an ancient Japanese deity called the Mother of Souls."

Ethan, Jess, and Kaela locked eyes at the mention of three children. He slowly turned back to Kaitlin. "So…" he said, "What happened to all of them?"

"It's believed that Ryuga Taeshinobu died. He had terminal illnesses at a very young age and then he vanished one day."

Nightshade might be a descendant then… Ethan thought to himself.

"As for Kitsune, she was poisoned to death according to most history books. As for her kids, I don't know that you could be them. They were said to have been killed in the middle of the night by the Shinotomo Clan after she was unsuccessful at granting their leader immortality before he died from his illnesses."

"That doesn't really add up." Jess said, folding her arms across her chest and leaning back.

"Right," Kaitlin replied, "But it does give us a place to start! Tomorrow I'm gonna see if I can find out more about this Mother of Souls person. That might lead you guys to more answers!"

Ethan smiled, standing up and putting his hand on Kaitlin's small shoulder. "Thanks for all the help, really."

Kaitlin reached up and tugged at his whiskers.

"Ow!"

"Sorry! I just can't take your adorable face seriously. Now, my voice hurts from talking. Let's eat some food!" Jess and Ethan helped Kaitlin cook rice and prepare potstickers. While they poured the oil into the pan, Kaela squealed excitedly from the table. Kaitlin's laptop was in front of her. "Donnie emailed!"

"Read it!" Jess said excitedly.

Kaela began:

Dear Kaela, Ethan, and Jess,

Guess what! April's back! More good news – she found Leo. But he isn't planning on coming home soon by the sounds of it. I think Raph is still having a hard time dealing with it. He still doesn't come out much and just sleeps all day long. I think Splinter is worried about the whole thing.

April found some interesting things while she was away too! She had to deliver these old statues of some ancient war generals to Winter's Corp last night. Other than that, the city is still really quiet. The Foot Clan hasn't been spotted in a long time. Here's hoping you guys are finding some of those answers you were looking for in Japan and that you're all safe. Life might be more exciting here now. I'm just so glad that April's back!

Donnie

Kaela grimaced at the last sentence in the letter, but hid it quickly. "I miss them." She said. Ethan nodded, and returned to the oil in the pan. He missed them too.


	7. Map of the Gods - Part 2

Episode 2: Map of the Gods – Part 2

The next day Ethan decided it was his time to go with Kaitlin to school. Kaela only fought it for a few moments and then agreed that it was for the best that she take some time off. Ethan followed Kaitlin from the roofs, doing his best in the daylight to keep himself hidden. Crowds of students wearing mini-skirts and suits and ties – blue colored with red accents. They chattered in Japanese, the genders entirely separate as if the others were forbidden fruit.

Ethan jumped from roof to roof, his naginata tapping at his back, pushing him on. Kaitlin had a jump to her step – an enthusiasm in the way her body moved forward. He watched as she made her way to the train station and he hid on the top, his naginata pried into a crack to keep him from sliding off. When at long last she entered a cement building painted tan, he waited outside on a fence out of the way and watched her through the glass window.

Students sat in rows, listening to the teacher or writing notes. Nobody looked out the window except for Kaitlin who glanced out on occasion to make sure he was still there. As the hours stretched on, something churned inside of Ethan. He felt his cheeks wet before he realized what he was feeling and he touched at the fur beneath his eye that had become moist. He realized in the quiet that he missed home. Not just New York. He missed going to school. He missed seeing familiar faces and friends. He missed belonging to something that made sense. It was a feeling that was even deeper and he wondered if he missed a different home too. One with his Mom. One where he wasn't alone and where he didn't have to face everything wondering if things would work out for the best – if he would be happy. He cleared his throat, his voice cracking and coming out in something to close to a sob and he held himself outside, trying to pull himself back together.

That wasn't how it worked.

I'm still me. And I can be me. And I can believe in me.

He let out a shaky breath, half wishing that Kurohana would burst through the door and attack the class so he would have something else to occupy him.

But nobody came.

Nothing happened.

All day.

Kaela and Jess sat together on their futons, still unrolled on the floor. Kaela couldn't get the words that Donatello had said from tumbling unpleasantly in her mind over and over again. She thought she had faced it – overcome her feelings – but she felt uncomfortable, like something sharp was poking at her insides and she grimaced, her eyes stinging if she thought about it too hard. Jess seemed to notice and entertained her with a few card games, but now she was over by Kaitlin's desk staring intently at the cup of pens.

"Jess, what are you doing?"

Jess didn't turn her face away from the desk and instead screwed up her face with effort, her white furred fists clenched in her lap. "Shh," she said quietly.

Kaela glanced between her and the cup of pens, raising an eyebrow.

Jess let out a long shaky breath and it seemed to echo around the room.

The cup toppled to the side and a pen came flinging out from its scattered contents, flying through the air like a dart and Jess caught it. She smiled and twirled it between her fingers looking up at Kaela who whistled under her breath. "That Kraang DNA that I took in a while ago – I've bene practicing. I helped April out with a whole tower spire, but I haven't been able to do much since them. It must have been an adrenaline thing."

"I feel like stopping a tower from collapsing and grabbing a pen from a cup is a step down," Kaela teased, glad to be thinking about something else.

"Psh," Jess snorted under her breath and she tossed the pen back onto the desk, "Maybe I'm not as good as I want to be yet." Her voice was distant and she looked into the empty space between her and the desk. She slowly turned, the silence thick in the room. Kaela felt she had been talking about more than her new telekinetic abilities. "I'm worried," Jess began quietly, her face turned away from Kaela, "about Ethan."

"What do you mean?"

"We came here for answers," Jess said, "and after nothing for so long…"

"But we have something now! Kaitlin will help us solve this once and for all."

Jess glanced back at Kaela, meeting eyes, "I know," she said softly, "but I don't know if the answer will be better than not knowing at all."

Kaela started. She hadn't thought about it much. "W-well, I'm sure whatever it is, we can handle it."

"We can, maybe…" Jess replied, "But can Ethan?"

"Yes." Kaela said it almost instantly. "Yes, he can. I know Ethan. And I know us. Whatever comes, whatever we have to go through, we can face it. I know we can."

Jess smiled at Kaela. "You're right."

Once the bell rang, Ethan felt like he was saved. He wiped at his face and dropped down from the fence, hiding in the back bushes of the sandy lot that the sports teams played in and waited, the sun setting. The day had been unbearably long. Kaitlin came out of the door and nodded towards the bush. "You there, Ethan?"

Ethan stepped out from the bush, seeing no one else nearby. "Ready to go home?" She asked.

Ethan nodded.

He put up his hood this time, tucking his tail behind his coat as best he could so he could walk with her.

They left the school and walked together quietly, Ethan's hands stuck in his coat pocket as they moved. "So, I found what we're looking for," she said smiling as they climbed up the stairs to the train.

Ethan just nodded again.

"The map is at the Seto Museum. They have a huge historical record section. That should tell us where we need to go. Sadly, no digital copies – they don't allow that – something about traditions." She laughed it off.

Ethan just nodded again.

They stepped onto the train and Kaitlin seemed to get the message and didn't say much for most of the train ride but instead glanced at her phone.

Even though the train was full of people going home from school or work – even though when the train would bump Ethan would nudge the people next to him – he felt as if the whole place was empty. Like he was the only one there.

Kaitlin glanced up and ignoring the customs she said, "You okay?" quietly.

Ethan nodded.

Kaitlin gave him a look that showed she obviously didn't believe him. "What's going on?"

Ethan shook his head, biting at his lip. Emotions felt to raw to talk about.

"You're the oldest yeah?" Kaitlin's change of subject caught him off guard. "Me too. I have two younger siblings too. A sister and a brother. Its hard sometimes because I feel like I'm not doing anything with my life."

"You're in Japan!" Ethan replied.

"I know," Kaitlin said nodding, "But I don't think the feelings change just because things go great. Funny, right? Even successful people feel unsuccessful. Even happy people feel depressed sometimes. I think the fact that people keep going on despite all of the horrible regularness and loneliness is a lot more success than other stuff – like designing a new computer system, or making a breakthrough in history." She turned her phone off, the screen going black and she looked up at Ethan with a smile. "Y'know?"

Ethan nodded numbly, her words feeling comfortable like a breeze of warmth in the winter inside. "Yeah," He replied, "I know."

Once the train stopped, they walked in silence the rest of the way to her apartment and up the five floors and into her house. "We're home!" Kaitlin said, jumping out of her shoes and going down the hallway to greet the others. Ethan spent more time than was necessary at the genkan, wiping at his face, half not wanting the emotions to stir back up to the service, the other side of him just wanting to release it all like a pressure valve – unsure which would be better for him right now.

"Ethan?"

Kaela and Jess appeared around the corner.

They both immediately knew something was wrong – he could see it in the way they looked at him. "Hi, guys," He said quietly, not sure why he felt so emotional today and he hoped beyond hope that they wouldn't ask –

"Are you okay?"

The tears welled up in his eyes the moment the words came out into the open like a sting and he couldn't open his mouth because he knew the words would choke on a sob and so instead he just stood in the dark genkan as Jess and Kaela made their way down the hallway and held him, their faces against his own, their arms around his middle and his back. No words were spoken for a while and they just stood there together, Ethan still biting his lip as tears dripped into his fur and sunk in.

"We're a family, Ethan," Jess murmured. "Nothing will ever change that."

The memories still hurt, but something warm inside of Ethan grew until he could believe in himself again. The hug melted away everything that felt dark for a while and although he knew the moment wouldn't – couldn't last, he lived in it while it lasted.


	8. Map of the Gods - Part 3

Episode 2: Map of the Gods – Part 3

Ethan felt much better the next day, although semi-humiliated by how raw his emotions had been the day before. As it was a Saturday, Kaitlin had picked it as the perfect opportunity to go to the museum. As Kaela, Ethan, and Jess scooped rice in bowls for breakfast, Kaitlin typed away on her laptop. "Well, it seems we may have a slight hiccup," she said nervously tapping at the screen, "The map hasn't been on display for a couple of years due to some incidents with kids trying to follow it. We may have to get our way into the forbidden special archives."

Jess, Kaela, and Ethan exchanged knowing glances and smiled. "That is not a problem for us," Jess said with a smile. After the four of them chowed down on rice, they placed the bowls in the sink and headed out. Jess, Kaela, and Ethan wore long trench coats again, hoods up to keep themselves disguised. Some people gave them a double take – but they simply ducked their heads and kept moving. The train was the hardest portion of the trip. A young college student just stared at them from the seat across from them while the train rocked back and forth and back and forth and Ethan did his best to just keep his head down.

Once the train stopped and the doors slid open, the Japanese voice greeting them, they followed Kaitlin out. After getting past the ticket booths and shoving their little blue pieces of paper into the machine, they stepped out into the light. "Maybe we should move quickly," Kaela said, a pair of kids looking up into her hood.

"Good idea," Jess agreed, looking back at the kids who were now chattering away in Japanese with their Mom who glanced back at them worriedly.

The library was huge – four floors at least and solid gray concrete slabs with a glittering glass roof that domed over the top like a hat.

"Just follow me and don't look at anyone," Kaitlin turned back and with her long, dark ponytails whipping behind her she gave them a wink.

Ethan grimaced, wishing that he didn't have to hide everywhere he went and wished again he was a regular kid. But he didn't have time to think about it much because then they were moving through swinging brass doors and into long, floor to ceiling bookshelves covered with books – most of them in Japanese.

The librarian, a stern looking lady with her black hair done up in a bun and her face oddly youthful, looked up and raised an eyebrow at their long coats and hoods up, but Kaitlin gave a quick wave and she nervously looked back down at a book spread out on her mahogany desk. Ethan watched her from the corner of his eye as she glanced at them again and then picked up the phone. "Is she calling the police on us?"

"Let's hope not," Kaitlin said with pep in her voice, the smile not fading from her face. The bookshelves around them were like the hedges of endless literature mazes, weaving in straight patterns around them. The stairs were a white and black speckled marble that reminded Ethan of cookies and cream chocolate. But rather than going upstairs, Kaitlin ducked right under the red velvet cords without even looking around.

"Kaitlin!" Kaela hissed after her, but she was already walking down the dark staircase to the forbidden library basement.

She glanced back up. "What? Did you think we had permission to go into the archives? I mean – I don't have to be a ninja to sneak in."

Before her voice could get any louder, Ethan, Jess, and Kaela slipped over the barrier and fast walked down to Kaitlin. Ethan glanced back nervously, but the library was mostly empty. The woman at the desk was gone now and the people that were there were absorbed in reading at desks or leafing through volumes.

The lower basement was dark and cooler than the upper floor. The pillars here looked more like ones you would see in a parking garage than the fancy marble ones above them. Ethan's tail trailed on the ground behind him as he stepped down the stairs, the ceiling low. Rather than shelves, a series of glass cases were set up on tables from one end to the other, along with bolted black filing cabinets along both walls.

With a flip of a switch, bright white light shone through under the glass, blocked only by old documents. Kaitlin thumbed her fingers across the glass leaving streaks. "It's gotta be somewhere over here."

"And now any police officer can find you really easily," Jess commented, leaning herself against one of the glass panes and pointing to the long streak.

"It's okay," Ethan said with a coy smile, "They probably already saw us on the camera going underneath the ropes."

"Hush your faces, fishes," Kaitlin said, her eyes tracing each table before she moved onto the next one, and then the next one.

"Fishes?"

"It's one of the things she says." Kaela replied.

"Here, here!" Kaitlin pointed eagerly, tapping her finger like a drum on the glass. "Heck yeah!"

Ethan, Jess, and Kaela gathered around the glass and looked at where Kaitlin's finger rested.

The parchment looked like an old, tanned piece of animal skin – brown and crumbled with odd creases across it. The ink in it was red and faded in places and none of it looked recognizable to Ethan at all – especially not the kanji. "So, I'm concerned," He said slowly, "one, that if I touch it, the thing will disintegrate. And two, I can't read it. Like at all."

Kaitlin was on her knees already, pulling at the lip of the glass with grunts of effort while Jess and Kaela just stared at her. "I mean – we have cellphones, we can take a picture…" Kaela pulled out her phone and snapped a picture with a flash.

"You have more than one problem now."

Ethan knew that voice anywhere and whirled around; he hadn't heard that voice in a year.

By the stairs stood Bloodmaw. His old ear that had been ripped off was now overgrown with fur as to disguise that much was wrong with it. New scars riddled his face and folded arms and the spots on the hyena were a pale green like his eyes. His fingers were tipped with black claws that gripped the wood handles of his signature tonfa and he grinned with pointed teeth. "Missed me Hamato dorks?"

"Kinda." Ethan said back, flipping his naginata out in front of him with a grin. And oddly he found that he wasn't lying. "Did you come alone for once or did you bring more of your Shinotomo friends with you?"

"Oh yeah, I always have friends to hang out with."

Three figures joined from the stairwell that looked uncomfortably familiar in their white garb, long claws coming from metal guards clutched in their palms. Bloodmaw tapped at the wall with the edge of his tonfa. "Lemme guess, you guys are here to still some old map. Tough luck for you – Kurohana wants us to get it first."

"You still playing lacky then?" Jess snapped.

Bloodmaw glared at her, "I do what I want."

Jess snorted, "Do you even know what the map is?"

Bloodmaw gritted his teeth, spinning his tonfa more aggressively then was necessary. "I'm dumb talking to you idiots." He jumped forward and with a swing of his tonfa and a wild look in his eyes, he shattered one of the nearby glass desks. Pieces flew like glittering snow into the air before bouncing off the cement ground and, like a bell ringing, the fight began.

The three rushed forward, but they didn't seem interested in fighting, but rather went for the glass cases, smashing a second before Ethan could even react. Bloodmaw ducked past a solid swing from Jess' kamas, throwing himself under another glass case that he kicked out of the way.

It fell to the ground and smashed to bits.

Another second and Bloodmaw and popped up behind Kaitlin, his tonfa ready, his mouth split into a grin. "No ice skates to help you this time, midget."

"You did not just call me midget."

Kaitlin dove into Bloodmaw's middle. His tonfas flew out of his hands and scattered across the ground in both directions, bouncing off the concrete pillars. "What is wrong with you!" Bloodmaw roared, the two rolling on the ground.

"Let's move before the rest of these are destroyed!" Ethan cried.

Jess jumped into action, swinging her kamas in a solid crescent formation, forcing the ninjas to jump back from a fourth table, three already broken in their wake and on the floor. Kaela jumped in front of the sixth one, the one with the map on it, swinging her ribbon dart around her to fend off shurikans thrown her way.

Ethan flung himself forward, throwing his naginata out expertly, throwing one of the white ninjas off their footing and they backward into a pile of glass. The other two had waited for their opening – and they found it.

Scissoring in on him from either side, Ethan felt their fists pound into his chest and he fell back into the fourth table, knocking it off its legs and shattering it across the floor. Old documents and papers flew in every direction as Jess moved in, forcing them back again.

Kaitlin flew across the ground, rolling with the hyena who snapped at her, pushing with grunts, "Get OFF!" He pounded at her until at last she relented and released him. He stood and with a solid slam from his tonfa the sixth table crumbled.

With the sound of breaking glass, Kaela swung back with her ribbon dart, not expecting the attack from behind, but Bloodmaw had ducked and with his fingers moving through glass he pulled the map from the pile and tucked it into his baggy pant pocket.

"We gotta get out of here!" Jess called, "I think we have company coming! By company I mean police by the way."

Bloodmaw swung himself forward and with a holler of effort, threw Kaela off her footing and she fell to the ground with a sharp yelp. Bloodmaw snatched a piece of glass from the floor, quick as lightning, the edges of the glass digging into his fur.

Kaela tried to right herself but he stepped on her chest, holding her down and raised the piece of glass above him.

Kaela's eyes grew wide and Bloodmaw stood there, everyone watching him in silence as he breathed heavily.

"Bloodmaw!" Ethan yelled, "Don't do it!"

His breath seemed to be coming out more shallowly.

His eyes were wild.

Then like the calming of a great storm, he let his hand fall, the glass slipping through his fingers.

"Now!"

Jess threw smoke pellets down against the ground and with an explosion of gray, they ran for it.

By the time the smoke cleared, only Bloodmaw and his two standing companions could be seen. The third was somewhere on the ground amongst broken tables. One of them approached him. "Bloodmaw, what was that?" They hissed in a low, Japanese voice. Bloodmaw just stared at the broken bits – the shattered portions of what once was around him and clenched his fists, the blood matting his fur. He could feel the weight of the paper in his pocket.

"You had the opportunity to kill one of the Hamato clan members – and you didn't take it!"

Bloodmaw looked up angrily, his eyes stinging, "Shut up!" he snapped. "I know what I did."

"Kurohana will not be pleased."

Bloodmaw shoved past the two, bumping shoulders as he did. He made it to the to stairs and then looked back at them. "Screw Kurohana, then." He said and he walked up the stairs, not wanting to look at anymore broken things. As they moved out of the library before any of the cops showed up he couldn't help but feel like it wasn't just that he didn't want to look at broken things anymore. He didn't want to live a life of broken things anymore.


End file.
